|
Originally Posted by Garus
Given your logic, any software that does not have a commercial purpose would not exist. For the most part, software is created with the intention of making money off it, particularly games. If they couldn’t charge the home user they wouldn’t make it.
|
Touche. In my wacky mind games don't fall under software so that thought never entered my brain.
However, I will refute your point about most software being written to make money. I think that the general infastructure of the majority of the internet proves that wrong. would the internet be what it is today if every ISP and web host had to buy some commercial package just to get started up? Yes I do still believe that these businesses should share their profits back to those that created the underlying OS they use, but paying up front for software just to be able to use it... meh.
I know I'm being an idealist here. I highly doubt that any money-making entity that's based off free/open source software are sharing their profits back. Humans are inherently greedy after all.
Okey, so how about a different approach... and yes I know this one would never happen but still... What if Blizzy were to add a simple "lend a hand" section to the subscription fee? My electric bill and tax returns are always pestering me to give a lil extra to help so and so in need. What if users could say "sure, I'll pay an extra dollar a month to compensate addon authors". Heck, blizzy could even keep simple useage statistics on addons directly from the client, so they wouldn't have to rely on questionable download numbers from addon sites. Imagine the improvements that could be made to the popular mods if their authors saw some incentive for their work.